No Greater Love – Jesus Carrying His Cross

Three texts for today’s episode! How can this be? Because the Gospels only devote a few verses to the carrying of the cross, with the exception of Luke who relates a separate incident along the way.

So from Mark 15:20-21 we get this: And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

From John 19:17 we get this: So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha.

And Luke 23:26 gives us this: And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.

We’re going to take a closer look at what it means to carry the cross as well as something we can learn from the character of Simon of Cyrene.